cartechboy writes: Slashed tires and broken car windows are nothing new. But electric cars have brought a new type of vandalism, and it's anything but random. Take the couple in a Florida high-rise condo who found one night that someone literally cut the charging cord to their Chevy Volt--while it was plugged in. Their OnStar app alerted them one evening that the car's charging session had been interrupted. When they investigated, they found the cord severed and the charging door bent on its hinges. The car was parked against a wall, so you couldn't see the cord unless you looked for it. Over three months, the couple used just over $25 worth of electricity to charge their Volt--and they'd gotten permission first. Was the vandalism someone's way of sending a message? And what WAS that angry message: Was it about the cost of the electricity? Or just someone who hates electric cars for political reason? They may never know--but that charging cord lists at $450.

Of course the Republicans want them to be a terrorist organization. The Republicans want everyone to be a terrorist organization. The more terrorists they can point to, the more fear they can peddle, the more money they can rake in and the more endless wars they can start.

"When the government stops using its authority to make things secret to largely cover up fraud, waste, abuse of power..."

That is at the heart of this war. The US government and military have abused their ability to classify information to the point that classification has become meaningless.

"Secrecy is a tool of evil, pure and simple."

I don't agree here. Classification of information is essential to any government or military (to a point). Unless your ultimate goal is to get rid of government altogether, but that is a different discussion.

I agree that supporting Wikileaks in any capacity right now is one of the more dangerous things we can do. I have made small donations, so I'm probably under the Witch Hunt radar for now, but I really wonder how surprised I would be to have Feds knocking on my door over the holidays. The US government has acted more like North Korea than I ever would have expected and I think it has taken many by surprise. This just means that the US government will do some serious damage before the people en masse get a clue and try to stop it.

The one thing that I hope comes from all of this damage is that the US government and military stop abusing their ability to classify information.

Posted
by
samzenpus
on Wednesday September 22, 2010 @12:31PM
from the from-on-high dept.

droopus writes "The US Supreme Court is weighing into the first RIAA file-sharing case to reach its docket, requesting that the music labels' litigation arm respond to a case testing the so-called 'innocent infringer' defense to copyright infringement. The case pending before the justices concerns a federal appeals court's February decision ordering a university student to pay the Recording Industry Association of America $27,750 — $750 a track — for file-sharing 37 songs when she was a high school cheerleader. The appeals court decision reversed a Texas federal judge who, after concluding the youngster was an innocent infringer, ordered defendant Whitney Harper to pay $7,400 — or $200 per song. That's an amount well below the standard $750 fine required under the Copyright act. Harper is among the estimated 20,000 individuals the RIAA has sued for file-sharing music. The RIAA has decried Harper as 'vexatious,' because of her relentless legal jockeying."